Blue Jays sweep Yankees for eighth straight win, will never lose again
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
Will the Toronto Blue Jays ever lose another game? Probably, but it’s tough to bet against them at the moment. Toronto won their eighth straight contest Sunday, beating the New York Yankees 2-0.
While eight straight wins would usually be the biggest part of the story, the Blue Jays managed to complete a sweep of the Yankees during the process. With the performance the team is now just 1.5 games back of the lead in the American League East.
The usual suspects contributed during Sunday’s win. Both Josh Donaldson and Jose Bautista went yard, giving Toronto the victory.
On top of that, Marco Estrada was excellent on the mound. He tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out six and walking three.
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While the Blue Jays rotation has been much maligned all season, the team has been much better lately.
After acquiring Troy Tulowitzki and David Price, among others, at the deadline, it was clear the club was going all-in this season.
With the win, Toronto improved to 61-52 on the year. They couldn’t be peaking at a better time.
CUBS COMPLETE SWEEP
The Blue Jays weren’t the only team to have a huge weekend. The Chicago Cubs emerged as a major contender for the wild card, sweeping the San Francisco Giants.
Chicago completed the sweep with Sunday’s 2-0 victory. The club received a strong performance from ace Jake Arrieta during the contest. Arrieta gave up just four hits over 7 2/3 scoreless frames. He struck out six and issued two walks.
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Arrieta was backed by the team’s youngsters. Kris Bryant singled in a run in the first inning, and Addison Russell managed a sacrifice fly in the second. That was all the support Arrieta needed to pick up the win.
The sweep was even more important considering the Giants were the Cubs biggest competition for the second wild card spot in the National League. Following the sweep, Chicago now holds a 3.5 game lead over San Francisco for that spot.
PIRATES BATS COME ALIVE LATE
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bats broke out in the big way Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pittsburgh maintained their lead on the wild card, picking up a 13-6 victory over Los Angeles.
The Dodgers were in good shape until the seventh inning. That’s when the Pirates decided to come alive.
Things started off promising, as Jim Johnson struck out Aramis Ramirez for the first out of the inning. It was all downhill from there. Johnson hit Jung-Ho Kang and then gave up two singles, including a run-scoring hit, and a sac fly, tying the game at 5-5.
He remained in the game, and gave up another single and a walk, loading the bases. The next three hitters, Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen and Ramirez all singled. Marte and Ramirez each drove in one run. McCutchen drove in two.
At that point, Johnson was removed in favor of Joel Peralta. It didn’t help. Kang came up for the second time in the inning, and delivered a three-run homer. Peralta was able to get the next hitter out, but the damage had been done. Pittsburgh scored nine runs during the frame.
The Pirates even added another run in the following inning, giving them 13 on the night. With the win, the PIrates improved to 65-44 on the year.
NATIONALS CONTINUE SLIDE
The Washington Nationals had a chance to gain on the New York Mets on Sunday, but they couldn’t do it. Washington failed to get the job done, losing 6-4 against the Colorado Rockies.
Drew Storen, who has been tremendous all season, played the goat this time around. With the game tied 4-4, Storen was called upon in the eighth inning.
After a single and a hit by pitch, Storen appeared to be in trouble. He managed to avoid damage against the next two hitters, picking up two quick outs. With men on second and third, DJ LeMahieu struck.
The second baseman shot a single to left field, plating two runs and giving the Rockies the 6-4 lead.
The Nationals attempted to rally in the ninth, loading the bases with just one out. They couldn’t get it done. Jayson Werth struck out, and Ian Desmond grounded out to end the game.
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With the loss, Washington dropped to 57-53 on the season. The club is 1.5 games behind the Mets in the National League East.
Want to see more from Sunday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik
